Buckaroo

After the Sembawang Beach, William walked us a good 500 metre to an unfantastic-looking restaurant, Buckaroo. Coco had a scratch on her foot and had a hard time walking there.

I thought that we would be sorely disappointed, given the cheapskate that William has always been, and the appearance of the restaurant (I didn't think it qualified as a 'restaurant' at all as it had a run-down-house-but-slightly-better-off-than-a-coffeeshop look) was quite off-putting to me.

We reached there at about 6.30pm and the person who received us asked if we'd made a reservation. When we said 'no', he asked again, like he couldn't believe his ears. I scanned the place and saw that there were still quite a number of empty tables. Some had tabs on them but some didn't. I wondered why he couldn't let us in. Just then, he referred us to a waiter-like young man,"They don't have reservation."

The nice young man led us to an empty table and sat us down.

After that, we looked at the menu. As I scrutinised the place, I thought it looked familiar and I recalled this place being recommended by one of the food shows hosted by Desmond Koh and Pan Ling Ling. It was American themed as I remembered.

The foods were pricey. A chicken or lamb chop can cost you more than $30. Maybe the taste is really fantastic. I don't know. I didn't order those expensive foods, knowing how William would cry if I ordered them.

We ordered the drinks first.

Coco enjoying her chocolate milk shake in a cowboy boot

My fruit punch

As night falls, the restaurant started to get packed with patrons and there was a queue waiting to come in. I then realised that if we hadn't come in early, we would be out there joining the queue.

The food:
I only saw their 'Signature Specials' board outside the restaurant after the meal. And I realised that we didn't order one single signature dish.

Overall, I don't think that the food is fantastic, or maybe it's because I haven't even tried their 'Signature Specials' and that's why the opinion.I can only foresee myself going back for the drinks. I'm a Chinese food person so there may be a bias here.

Their chicken wings. Very bland. I told William that my mother's are better.
One of their signature dishes is their spicy chicken wings with their special chilli sauce, but we didn't get that in consideration of Coco.

Escargot, something that I've long wanted to try. It's a little disappointing though as it is nothing near exotic. I think oysters are more exotic. We told ourselves not to think of it as 'snails' and it didn't taste too bad I guess.

William's Dory fish fillet. Very huge. Nothing to scream about though.

Mushroom soup served in a bun. This is good. It's creaminess is comparable to Marche's and the taste of mushroom is yummy. At $8.80, the serving sure matches its price. The three of us drank a good deal of it and we were all filled to the brim.

The deco:

The restaurant is very colourful with a rich array of Western cowboy stuff. From the pics of real Red Indians to an old-fashioned typewriter, the ornaments made for a brief but interesting walkabout in the restaurant.

The bartop counter with a rifle hanging above.

A old-fashioned chandelier

Cowboy's hat

Can you see the gigantic flags hanging above the patrons' heads?

Baby getting agitated after sitting in the highchair for hours

The night-view of Buckaroo

The enthusiastic sister taking a pic with Baby on a bench outside Buckaroo

The service:
I don't mind the service. I think they are okay. An 'uncle', according to Coco, offered to help her wash up the snail shells as she made her way to the washroom to wash them herself. And they readily obliged our requests, which were really nothing extraordinary ie. gave Coco a glass of plain water over the counter, packeted the leftover chicken wings, gave us a highchair for the baby. It was pleasant overall. The restaurant was full-house and the waiters were quick on their feet.

Oh yeah, actually, there was a 'No photography' sign in the restaurant, but like an inconsiderate Singaporean, I feigned ignorance and took pictures anyway, albeit most of the times, I focused on my kids and the food and pretended that I was more interested in taking family outing pictures when I wanted some profile of the restaurant, since restaurant trips are extremely rare with a husband who is always broke. However, there's a limit to how discreet you can be with a bulky DSLR. But surprisingly, nobody came up to me to stop me from taking pictures, especially of the deco. I appreciate that flexibility and count it towards good service, although I figure it wouldn't go down so well with them if everybody starts snapping away.